1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for the continuous production of pretzel products; particularly, the invention relates to methods for producing hard pretzels on a continuous basis salted with flake-type salt.
2. Background of the Prior Art
The making of pretzels is an art which has been practiced for many years. The art is replete with different types and classifications of pretzel processes including simple techniques to relatively sophisticated procedures. However, the effectiveness of even the most subtle differences and variations from one technique to another, as nearly as can be determined, hinges almost entirely upon whether the characteristic flavor of the hard pretzel or whether the bread-stick type flavor of the soft pretzel is desired. To the extent that such flavor and texture differences are quite perceptible, even though particular chemical and physical factors minimally required to produce all pretzels must remain the same, it is difficult to predict whether even minor process changes will lead to improvement in, for example, salt retention, without perceivable flavor or texture distortion.
Pretzels are baked products which are produced from essentially rather simple recipes containing flour, corn syrup, water, salt, and other ingredients. Generally, all pretzels have a characteristic flavor which is imparted by chemical reactions occurring during the final baking step and by flavoring ingredients, such as malt and yeast. However, there are perceptible differences. In the case of hard pretzels, an essential distinctive flavor difference is developed by fully precooking the pretzel dough prior to baking. This precooking step is marked by starch gelatinization which occurs at temperatures exceeding 150 degrees F. Traditionally, precooking is achieved by submerging the pretzel dough in sufficiently concentrated, hot caustic solution where the corn syrup constituent of the dough base formula reacts with the caustic, thereby converting sodium hydroxide to sodium carbonate, increasing the reducing sugars and changing the pH. Absent this precooking, the final pretzel will have a perceivably different, bread stick--type or cracker-like, flavor, which is desired for soft pretzels.
Furthermore, pretzels are especially characterized by the presence of a darkly browned exterior surface. This surface browning stems from any of several methods of treating pretzel dough with caustic solution. For hard pretzels the caustic must be hot enough and the dough exposed long enough to actually cook. For soft pretzels, the caustic can be at room temperature, provided that it is sufficiently concentrated to reactively increase the concentration of reducing sugars needed for browning the pretzel surface during the final baking step.
In the case of hard pretzels, which are precooked, the reducing sugars are concentrated at the surface of the pretzel in the form of a solid, hard-caramelized coating instantly formed as the pretzels are conveyed from the cooker. This caramelized coating is, in large part, responsible for the shinier, darker appearance of hard pretzels after baking. In the past, it has been essential that hard pretzels be cooked at no higher than 190 degrees F which would maintain this shine without cooking so hard as to inhibit salt retention.
On the other hand, soft pretzels are characterized by a more dull finish and a somewhat lighter brown color unless egg whites or other coloring aids are employed. In fact, soft pretzels and the so-called "filled" pretzels, which contain edible material such as cheese, have a discontinuous brown coating which reveals the light colored internals of the pretzels at their fold points. The caustic treatment for such pretzels have commonly included submerging or dipping into a bath of lower temperature caustic, or alternatively there have been techniques which call for transporting the soft pretzel dough through caustic spray zones.
Such a spray technique was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,807, where the step of submerging the pretzel dough in a caustic bath was replaced by a spray step in order to avoid delays in processing, inefficient use of caustic solution, and to avoid the pretzels floating off of racks, which are ordinarily found in soft pretzel making machines at the concessionaire stands of stadiums.
Also U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,939 discloses spraying hot caustic solution at 180 degrees F to 200 degrees F prior to baking "filled" pretzels in order to achieve browning "without submersion of the pretzel doughs," otherwise the dough would tend to over absorb moisture from the caustic bath, rendering the dough unduly soft and pliable and leading to loss of shape and difficulty in maintaining the shape profile needed for injection of edible filling materials. In producing either filled pretzels or soft pretzels, such spray techniques, whether hot or cold caustic, tend to allow the surface of the pretzel to remain sufficiently low in reducing sugars to maintain the desired lighter brown dough finish, and sufficiently uncooked to exude the characteristic bread stick or cracker-like flavor. Furthermore, the caustic is substantially less concentrated (0.3% by weight rather than 1.8% as is used for hard pretzels). The heretofore expected drawbacks to employing such spray techniques in the production of hard pretzels are the inability of even hot spray to cook the dough, the tendency to wash off surface caramelization even if the dough was precooked, and the tendency to distort the desired flavor or texture of hard pretzels.
The final step in the production of hard pretzels, prior to baking, is that of salting the surface of the pretzel. For hard pretzels, the type of salt commonly used is a crushed rock salt acquired from mining deposits. The rock salt is uniform and rectangular in shape having distinct pointed edges. These so-called "shape points" allow the rock salt to pierce the caramelized coating found at the surface of hard pretzels, and to remain adherent thereto in a uniform and quantitatively acceptable manner.
Recently, it has become desirable to replace rock pretzel salt with flake-type "processed salt". This salt, is processed from brine, and treated to remove the calcium and magnesium impurities which cannot be removed from rock salt. Substantial removal of these impurities provides a milder, less bitter taste and enables the salt to be more readily dissolved when ingested by humans. Unfortunately, the processed salt is in the form of flat, irregular flakes, having no "shape points."
This flake-type salt has been disclosed for the production of soft pretzels in Example 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,084 where the low-temperature caustic dip or submersion technique was employed. However, the dough surface was not caramelized.
When applying such flake-type salt to a caramelized surface as is required during hard pretzel processing, prior to baking, there is a substantial quantitative variance in salt adherence and substantial waste. In order to achieve the desired 3% salt by weight of the pretzels in the bag, it was heretofore necessary to apply 17% salt by weight of the pretzels during the salt application stage. This causes such a tremendous handling and maintenance problem that flake-type salt has rarely been used on hard pretzels. Attempts to condition the surface during hard pretzel production as, for example, by a softer cook and/or by applying an adhesive substance to the caramelized pretzel dough surface have heretofore led to distortion of the taste, texture and/or appearance of the final product, and undesirable quantitative variances in salt retention.
Accordingly, an improved process for the manufacture of hard pretzels salted with flake-type salt which does not distort the taste, texture or appearance of the hard pretzels and which provides more effective salt retention would fulfill a long felt need in the industry and would represent a surprising and unexpected advancement in the art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing hard pretzels in a continuous operation which enables the pretzels to retain flake-type salt without distorting taste, texture or appearance.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method for continuously producing hard pretzels salted with flake-type salt which negates the problem of quantitative variance and waste.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description.